Author: helpusell

Help-U-Sell Real Estate Success Summit Agenda

It’s still three months away, but we’re already finalizing the agenda for our Success Summit. The theme will be “Taking Charge of Change.”

Held at the Hotel Menage in Anaheim from November 14-16, the summit will be free for Help-U-Sell Brokers. The exact schedule (and a few surprises) has yet to be ironed out. To give you more of an idea of what to expect, here are the topics we have planned to discuss.

  • Help-U-Sell Real Estate’s strategic plan for 2012
  • The state of the industry and emerging opportunities
  • The Automated Agent: Practical uses of technology in everyday business
  • Creative financing and deal-doing in today’s market

We’ll also have two star-studded panels and we’ll unveil a new technology feature. We hope you can join us for our educational and camaraderie-filled three days. (The summit will begin at 2 p.m. on Nov. 14 and end at noon Nov. 16.)

If you can, we encourage you to attend at least one day of the REALTORS Conference & Expo beforehand. Those dates are November 10-14. We will have a booth (#519), and the continuing education courses are worth the visit. The early bird deadline is August 15, so register within the next week if you haven’t already. Also, let Lori Warnelo know when you’ve registered. Her email is lwarnelo@helpusell.com.

OMS Upgrades – Leads Management Module Additions and Time Zones

We have been working on building a new Leads Management Module for the past two months, and the last pieces are nearly complete.

Once you’ve claimed a web lead, it moves to your leads section. From there, you can now select if the new lead is a buyer or a seller, and you can manually add other leads that you acquired via phone, walk-in, ETM or other source. If the lead is a seller, you can set an appointment to view the property and include appointment notes. The appointment will then show up on your dashboard calendar.

A seller moves from a lead to a contact when you’ve clicked on “Convert,” or “Confirm Appointment.” You can also opt to delete the lead.

On another note, we’ve added the ability to select your office’s time zone in the OMS so that all of your alerts will be localized for you. It’s easy to change your time zone. On the Setup tab, click on “website.” You’ll see the new drop-down menu called “Set Office Time Zone.” There you can choose from Central, Eastern, Hawaii, Mountain and Pacific.

All changes should be live by the end of the week. Let us know if you have any questions or problems with the system after you’ve tried it out.
If you’d like training on anything during Tech Time Tuesday, leave us a comment. We’ll be covering movie editing in an upcoming webinar by broker request.

Broker Focus: Jack Bailey

Jack Bailey

A Help-U-Sell veteran, Jack Bailey has owned his franchise in Greensboro, N.C., since 1988. He’s seen many changes in real estate since then, from technology to the rise of buyers’ agencies, but his goal remains the same.

“I love exceeding expectations,” he says. “I get a lot of satisfaction from taking a client, listening to their objectives and overcoming obstacles.”

One of his secret weapons is his buyer consultation, which he created more than 20 years ago when he realized his buyers didn’t have knowledge of real estate basics. “You have to become more of an adviser in these tough times than just someone who lists houses,” Bailey says.

To that end, he coaches his potential buyers in the terms and the tricks of the industry that they’ll need to know. “It’s important for buyers to be educated as best they can,” he asserts.

During the consultation, Bailey explains the buying process, negotiating techniques, types of loans and basics like closing costs and escrow accounts. “By the time we’re done, we’ll have a strategy for them,” he says.

Not only does the consultation inform his clients, but it also inspires their confidence in themselves and in him.

On the seller side, Bailey advises that you need to know your statistics and your facts. “Explain what’s going to happen in the market and how [you and the seller] need to strategize,” he suggests.

His techniques and practices come from the heart. “I sincerely want to help people. I put their interest before mine,” he says. “The results always work out for everybody.”

For new brokers, particularly those new to Help-U-Sell, Bailey offers the following advice:

  • Make sure you pick the best business model for you. Consider your strengths, your objectives and your market before deciding between running your office as a manager with agents and doing it all yourself.
  • Build a good knowledge base of real estate and be constantly aware of what’s happening and what is projected to happen.
  • Market very smartly, especially to your Centers of Influence.
  • Focus on profitability, not just closings.

OMS Upgrades – Forced Registration

By broker request, we have added an option to require visitors to register with your site. The default state does not require registration. If you would like your visitors to be forced to sign up with your site, follow the steps below.

  1. Click on “website” under the Setup tab.
  2. You will see the new dropdown menu titled “Search login requirement.”
  3. You can choose from “none” (this is the default), “three searches” and “listing details.”

The “three searches” option will redirect a fourth search attempt to your registration page. The “listing details” option means that any visitor who clicks to see a property’s details will be sent to the registration page first.

Often, forced registration can significantly increase leads. Try out one of the options for a week or two and monitor your level of response. You can always switch to the other registration requirement or revert to allowing unlimited searches and listing detail views.

Experiment with the options and let us know what works best for your site.

Broker Focus: Karen Detwiler

We’re starting a new series that profiles successful Help-U-Sell brokers. The goal is to honor these brokers while at the same time offering insight and advice for all of our brokers and agents.

Karen Detwiler, Help-U-Sell Real Estate
Karen Detwiler, Help-U-Sell Real Estate

Our first Broker Focus profile subject is Karen Detwiler of Help-U-Sell Detwiler Realty in Pennsylvania.

An almost 10-year real estate veteran, Karen started out as a part-time licensed assistant with a Help-U-Sell office while learning the ropes of real estate.  In March 2005, she opened up her own Help-U-Sell office.

Her office has closed 56 sides so far this year. She attributes some of this success to advertising on the radio and old-fashioned meet-and-greets.  “I believe networking with community organizations, churches, local chambers and our local Realtor association is the most cost effective marketing tool in this market,” Karen says. “It doesn’t require an outlay of money, but gets us as agents interacting with the community.”

Another tactic she has used, based on what she’s noticed in her market, is properly pricing a home at the beginning of the listing, “right along with that, making sure your listing outshines the competition in ‘showability.’” She has also observed buyers take more time looking at the inventory of homes available prior to making an offer on a property.

Karen has a love for real estate, which shows in her work. “I believe real estate has to be a passion that you have inside of you,” she says.

For new brokers, she offers great advice.

•    For those that got into real estate at the height of the market, this current market is a real adjustment. Start small. You don’t need a lot of agents, but the ones you have make sure they have the drive and stamina to succeed.
•    Focus on your clients, as they will be your best advertising! I found testimonials were a great tool.
•    Current and past clients always seem to know someone who is in need of buying or selling a home, so don’t be afraid to ask for referrals.

If you have more advice to share, please comment below.

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